Registry Must-Haves/Don't Needs

practicallypierson

I thought with Black Friday coming up and people starting to talk about baby showers that this might be a good time to get a thread going about registries. So STM+ (or childcare workers) what are your must-haves for a new baby? Any product recommendations to help cut through the decision paralysis for FTMs? Anything you registered for and wondered afterward why you asked for it? Anything you didn't think to ask for but ended up needing or really liking? 

practicallypierson

So to start, I loved having a baby carrier for my first. We started with a wrap-style carrier (I think it was a Moby wrap?) and then transitioned to a structured carrier (Infantino Flip) when he got bigger. I loved the ring sling I used when watching a friend's baby, but I couldn't get ours to work for me, so it rarely got used. 

Reversible zippers are life, but reversed zippers are an absolute pain on a wiggly baby. You want the double zipper ones, not the ones that have to be threaded into the zipper at the top. Snaps weren't awful, but they have a greater than 0 chance of having to be redone because you missed one. 

We loved the Halo sleep sack swaddle. We didn't have as much success with the SwaddleMe. Similar design, but much tricker to transition into because of the lack of zipper. We also had a lot of success swaddling in a blanket, The stretchy ones worked better for us than the muslin ones, but they're smaller, so may not work as well for a longer baby. 

Having a carseat/stroller system was amazing. It's much easier to be able to just click the bucket out into the stroller than to do full transfers, and it helps keep naps going if baby falls asleep on a walk/in a store. We got a full jogging stroller, which had some definite advantages, but I would say isn't necessary unless you actually plan on exercising with the stroller or are walking along some truly uneven paths. (I had great intentions of taking up running again, and that has not happened.) 

Silicone bibs that can catch food are a game changer when baby starts feeding himself. Also very easy to clean, and you can scoop baby food off the bib to offer when it falls instead of losing it. 

In the realm of not really necessary, but certainly nice to have, we were given a bottle warmer. We could have gotten by without it, but it was definitely nice to be able to start the bottle warming and then walk away for a couple minutes to take care of other things. 

Pro-tip that I was not told until later but am doing this time around: Go ahead and add various consumable things to the registry so that you can get the discount on them. Not just diapers and wipes, but saline spray, infant Tylenol, boogie wipes (weird name, but super useful), etc. You might not need them for a couple months, but it's much easier to have them on hand, and they're going to still be good when fall comes around if you buy them in March/April. 

jtayl962

I would add crib sheets. I personally don't see the need for those fancy blanket sets.

practicallypierson

And more crib sheets than you think you'll need, especially if you're doing daycare. I think we have seven or eight for our son, and they all ended up in rotation when he was still sleeping in a crib. The blanket sets are cute, but most of what's in them is actually explicitly recommended not to be in a crib with a baby because it can be a suffocation hazard. 

knottieb0ad38b7c3abc54e

1. Do not bother with a boppy pillow. I saw everyone had one I saw I got one. It doesn’t work well for nursing especially with an infant. I wish I knew about it earlier but the My Breast Friend nursing pillow is a dream. It has back support and is flat enough baby can lay on it while you nurse. 

2. The Frida baby snot sucker. The concept is gross but it’s so effective in pulling out the snot when you baby gets stuffy. 

3. I found I was not prepared post partum. I don’t mean to scare first time moms but there is a lot no one prepares you for! I certainly had no idea. Frida baby has a post partum kit so it might be worth looking into it. Stock up on heavy pads (you will have a heavy “period” post partum), padsicles and dermoplast,  a peribottle and some stretchy large sweatpants (your body will thank you!) . These are all things I had to send my husband out to get as soon as we got home from the hospital. I wish I knew ahead of time! I read about so many things but these things did not seem to come up. 

4. My son is four and we still use the Hatch sound machine, he loves it and you can program it to turn on automatically at different times. 

5. We’ve gone through so many baby monitors and expensive ones too- after the third one stopped working on us we went for a simple cheap audio one. That was the only reliable one. The video was nice for the early days. I know some people just use an indoor security camera instead. I might try that this time. Use caution before buying an expensive baby monitor 

juliathebaker

STM-
-I'll second the My Breast Friend for breastfeeding. I never ever used the boppy for BF. 
-I would consider a bottle warmer a must-have.
-If you're thinking of breastfeeding, put the milk storage bags on your registry since they do cost a little.
-I had a couple of cute baskets in my registry, and they ended up being super useful for transporting stuff from room to room when you run out of hands. 
-Looking back, I personally didn't need to put any clothing items on the registry since people love to give cute clothes. I would agree about listing swaddle(s) though -we also liked the halo sack swaddle.
-Get an electric nail trimmer in addition to the baby nail clippers. Seriously amazing for your peace of mind trying to trim those tiny fingernails without nipping skin.